Offenses — Gareth Evans

It's a joy to be with you. Last time I stood in this pulpit was to celebrate Denzel and Rhodes' 70th wedding anniversary. 50th! 50th wedding anniversary. For four years, my wife Anne and I had the privilege of working on the Anastasis in West Africa.

It's a medical mercy ship. We had the privilege of being passengers there to the crew of 350. After finishing there, we returned to Victoria, and the first weekend home I went to visit a former member of my church.

He said how delighted he was to see me, and I expressed the same sentiment to him. And then I added, I will be in church on Sunday. He said, oh good, everybody will be so pleased to see you. I said, well I'm looking forward to it.

And he said, but it's a good job you weren't there last Sunday. I said, why, what happened last Sunday? Oh, he said, the young people led the worship. It was awful. The drums were so loud, and the guitars were so fast, and we had to stand and sit, and everybody, the songs we didn't know, it was awful.

Everybody was offended. And I said, well I wouldn't have been offended. Oh yes you would, he said. I said, I wouldn't have been offended. He said, oh yes you would. Oh no I wouldn't. Oh yes you would.

He said, some people even got up and left. He said, they walked out. I said, you mean the weaker brethren? No, no, he said, some of the seniors. I said, exactly, the weaker brethren. I'm a senior, so I can say that.

Tolerating Differences Among Younger and Older Believers

The Bible talks about weaker brethren, those who cannot handle the changes that happen in church. Feast days, etc. I remember when I was a young Christian, I came to the Lord at the age of 17, a radical conversion.

And I remember how offensive I was to some of the seniors in the church. Not meaning to be, but my ways were different. And so I've learned to tolerate the ways of young people today that are so different.

I said to my friend, I would not be offended. He said, yes you would. I said, no I wouldn't. Yes you would. I said, brother, I would not have been offended. He said, you don't mean to tell me you like that kind of music.

I said, no I don't. I said, in fact I like quiet meditative music. I don't like that kind, but I would not have been offended. Yes you would. I said, brother, I would not have been offended. He looked at me and I said, I would not have been offended because I choose not to be offended.

The Danger of Taking Offense

I want to speak to you this morning about offense. We're all aware that the word of God speaks much about those who cause offense. It would be better for your eye to be plucked out or your hand to be chopped off rather than to cause offense to one of these little ones.

But I want to speak this morning about those who take offense. Do you know that when I was a pastor, I used to receive a quarterly magazine called Leadership Magazine for pastors and elders of churches.

Very, very fine magazine. And every issue would deal with certain different aspects. And I remember the one that they did a survey on why missionaries leave the mission field. There's a high percentage of missionaries, you know, in my denomination, they train for nine years before they go to the field.

They spend three years on the field and they return to Canada and a large percentage of them never return to the field. And they surveyed these missionaries who had returned home. And the number one reason why missionaries never return to the field, that superseded all other reasons put together, has nothing to do with visas and difficulties, had nothing to do with sickness, had nothing to do with children's education, had nothing to do with persecution.

The number one reason above all others put together was that the missionaries could not get on with other missionaries. They were offended by something the field director had said or done. Offense has become one of the greatest divisors in the church.

Churches are split over people being offended by the youth music or the color of the decor or something. And Satan gloats, I'd like to speak this morning about what it means when we allow offenses to come.

Offense as a Growing Hindrance

I remember once as a school teacher I took a party of students to Gibraltar, the Rock of Gibraltar. And if you take a tour of the rock, you will take you up the Rock of Gibraltar to the top where there's a wonderful scene.

But on halfway up they stop on the tours, the buses and the taxis, because there's a colony of monkeys there. Many, many hundreds of monkeys, they're known as the Apes of Gibraltar or something. They're well known.

And on the side of the road it says very clearly, do not feed the monkeys. Do not play with the monkeys. But you know, people do not listen to signs like that. And so they go close to the monkeys and sooner or later a monkey will jump on someone's shoulder.

And the woman, it's usually a woman, says, oh John, look, get your camera quick. And so John comes with his camera, takes a photograph of this monkey on the shoulder. But monkeys have a habit, you know, of playing with your hair.

And they get their fingers tangled in their hair. Oh, he's pulling my hair, John, look at him. Get off, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it. And soon the playful monkey has become a great hindrance and barrier.

Offenses are just like that. I remember the time I was invited to speak at a little church in Esquimalt. And Anne and I arrived there early. And the worship team were practicing at the front of this little church.

It was no bigger than the crossroads of your church here at the front. And Anne said to me, I think we'd better sit right at the back today. And I agreed with her because the practice, if there was any example of what was going to happen later in the service, we were going to be deafened.

And I looked at the group who were leading the worship. And the young man who was the lead singer had a ring in his lip. The young man who played the drums had a cowl down like a monk. You couldn't see his face at all.

And the young woman who was going to be the singer had red spiked hair. Everything that was anathema to my Christian upbringing. If I had been offended as I could so easily have been and had left that church, I had to stay because I was speaking.

But if I had left, I would have missed one of the most precious worship times I have ever experienced. When those three young people plus the other young people led us that day in that service. But you see, that little I could have got offended with a ring in the lip would have been enough to offend me.

Leave alone the red spiked hair. And that really was enough to offend me. And they would have been just like the tangling of the monkey's fingers in my ear. I want to speak about what happens when we allow the monkey to come on our shoulders.

Jesus Warns That Offenses Will Come

Be sure of this. Jesus said in Luke chapter 17 verse 1. Be sure of this. Offenses will come. You're going to be offended. I don't know what it is that offends you. We all get offended. Let me just say one thing more before I look at the scriptures in this.

I am not talking about sin. If somebody sins against you, lies about you, does something to you, steals from you. Whatever it is, robs your reputation, whatever it might be. If someone sins against you, the Bible is very clear what you are to do.

You are to go to that person. You are to talk to them about the sin. You are to seek to be reconciled with them. You do not go and say, You've sinned against me, I'm going to tell all the church about you, what you've done.

You're never going to sing in church. That's not what the scriptures say. You are to go to that person to seek to be reconciled. The whole context of that chapter in Matthew is about reconciliation. If he will not listen to you, you take somebody else with you.

If he still does not listen, you bring him to the church. The purpose being reconciliation. When you have been sinned against. I am not talking about being sinned against. I'm talking about being offended.

We're offended when we have personality clashes. We're offended when somebody does something we would have done some other way. We don't like it. We're offended when somebody is chosen over us to lead the singing.

And we think we should do it. We're offended by myriads of different things that offend us. None of which are sins. But our response can easily become sin. For example, it was Cain who first brought an offering to God.

It was Cain who had heard from his parents that God was in that garden that was sealed off. It was Cain who decided first he wanted to come to God. And all he had, because he was the keeper of the fields, all he had was the grain and the stories.

So he brought a wonderful offering of fruit and vegetables to God. There was nothing at all wrong with his heart or his willingness to bring an offering. From the human perspective. Abel sees his brother doing this and Abel decides to bring something that he's got.

But he doesn't look after the fields. All he does is look after the sheep. So he brings one of the lambs. And God chooses to accept Abel's sacrifice because he wants us to learn that the approach to God is only through the shed blood.

There was no way Cain and Abel knew that. But God wanted us to learn that. But Cain is offended. And God turns to Cain in Genesis and he says these words to him. Cain, doest thou write to be offended?

Cannot I choose whichever one I wish to? Be careful, Cain, because sin lies at the door and is waiting to take you. Cain had not yet sinned. He was offended but he had not yet sinned. But his offense led to the sin of murder.

We need to be careful to distinguish between the two. I am speaking about the things that offend you this morning. Not when somebody sins against you. And I'm going to take you into five scriptures. I invite you to have your Bibles with you to look at these.

And I'm going to show you five scripture verses where it speaks of offense. Now the word offense might not appear in your translation. But I assure you in the Greek, in all five of these verses, the Greek word translated is skandalizo, to be offended.

It's from the verb skandalizo. It's in all five of them. It's translated in different ways. Offended, stumbling, fall, different ways in your version. But I assure you in the Greek, it's the same Greek word.

Offense and the Seed on Stony Ground

My first two references are found in Matthew chapter 13. I invite you to turn them with me. I will read the context to you of each of these. I'm looking first, and my first verse is in verse 21. But let me read the context.

Matthew 13, 21 is my first reference verse. And I notice you've got pieces of papers in your bulletin. You can write these down. So I invite you to do so. The context is the parable of the sower and the seed.

Jesus interprets this parable. It's one of only two parables that he interprets. He says, the seed that was sown upon the stony ground is like the man or woman who hears the word of God and receives it gladly.

This is the picture, if you like, of the young man or woman who hears the gospel that Jesus has died upon the cross to forgive you your sins, to cleanse you, to give you victory over the drug habit you have, whatever it might be.

And they say, yes, I need that. They receive it gladly. And they become an instant Christian. And the following Sunday, they come to church. And the pastor starts preaching that those who follow Christ must need to take up their cross and follow him.

There are things in our life that we must lay aside because they're not appropriate to the Christian life. And the young man, the young woman says, I wasn't told that when I gave my heart to Jesus. I don't like that kind of gospel.

I like the free and easy, no responsibility gospel. I want to be free. I said, Jesus, promise me. And he is offended, said Jesus, by the word. And he falls away because he has no root. He is offended by the word.

What is the result of his offense? Well, that seed that was produced, that was put in the ground, produced no fruit. And the first effect or result of you allowing that monkey to stay on your shoulder will be that you'll produce no fruit.

Now, I don't know about you, but I want to produce fruit in my life. I want the fruit of the Spirit in my life. I want the fruit of love and joy and peace and gentleness and goodness. I want that fruit to grow in my life.

The one hindrance to the fruit of the Spirit growing in my life is when I allow offenses to remain upon me. Something you've said, something you've done, something the pastor did, I'm offended by it. When I allow that to remain and I choose not to remove it, I risk losing fruit in my life.

Offense and Unbelief in Jesus' Hometown

My second example is found in the same chapter. I come toward the end of the chapter and I read these words. That Jesus has come into his hometown. I'm looking now at the section beginning in 53 and the key verse is 57.

Matthew 13, 57. Jesus comes into his hometown. He stands up in the synagogue and he begins to preach. And some of the older men in the congregation start looking at one another and they start murmuring and they say, who does this young man think he is, speaking to us like this?

It's the carpenter's boy. We know his family well. We know his brothers and his sisters. And who does he think he is coming here? He hasn't been to any seminary and he's speaking to us like this. He doesn't belong to the Sadducees or the Pharisees.

He's not one of these. He's a carpenter. And they were offended at him. There's a story in the Old Testament in the book of Kings about a prophet. One day his two sons came home to him. They said, dad, dad, you should have been with us today in the marketplace.

There's a young man there. He's a prophet come from God. He's a prophet like you, dad. The old man says, a prophet? In our town? Yeah, they said, dad, he's preaching. Thus saith the Lord. It's wonderful.

You should have heard him. The old man said, prophet? I'm the prophet around here. You can tell that young man I'd like to talk with him. The two boys rushed back into the marketplace. They see the young prophet and say, our dad wants to talk to him.

You know, our dad's a prophet. He's been prophesying for 40 years, you know. Our dad's known. Come and meet our dad. The young man says, no, I can't. But God has told me to go to the next town and to prophesy there.

Ooh. So they go back and they tell the old man. And the old man is offended. And she says to his young boys, you go back and tell him I've heard from God. And God says he's to come here for lunch. The two boys go back.

They see the young prophet. Our dad has had a word from God. And our dad says, God said he's to come for lunch. And the young man, who's new in the faith and walking with God, says, oh, if the old man thinks that, then obviously he's closer to God than I am.

I'd better go. And so he goes and has lunch. And the old man smiles nicely and hypocritically and they have lunch. And then he says to the young man, because you've disobeyed God, you shall no longer serve him.

And that day a bear takes this young man and he is destroyed. There is many, many, many a ministry that God was designed to be upon. Even maybe in your church that has been destroyed because some older person has been offended.

A Young Convert Tested by Older Believers

When I became a Christian, I was 17 years of age. My conversion was radical. And our pastor invited the young people to go up the valleys to a little village called Caira, north of Bridgend in Wales. And we were to give testimonies and sing at this meeting in the town hall.

And I remember I was brand new Christian, and we were so excited about this meeting, and I had to give my testimony. And coming back down the valley in the train, we were singing. There was a lot of people on the train, but the group of about five or six of us, we were singing Christian songs.

And somebody struck up a song, maybe it was the one we just sang as a hymn, I don't remember. But you know what happens when you pitch a song and they pitch it too high. You come in the chorus, and in the chorus there's that note.

And as you approach it, you realize you've pitched too high, you're not going to meet it, you know? Have you ever experienced that? So everybody at that note went quiet except me. And I went for the note, and I missed it by an octave and a half.

And one of our dear old ladies was further down the carriage from me, and she turned and looked at me. I went up to her, and she said, Do you have a Bible, young man? I said, Yes. She said, Get your Bible.

I had a brand new Bible. Black leather, gold on the outside. It was so new, I had not even written my name in it. I was a brand new Christian. This was a holy book. She turned to the virgin white pages at the back of my Bible, and then took a pen out and scrawled right across the page, God is ready to be feared in the assembly of the saints.

Oh, I am so glad that the work that was done in Calvary for me was sufficient to carry the pain that I felt to that woman's offense. She had no idea how close she was to putting me out of the kingdom, or putting me out of my walk.

But God had done a good work in Calvary, and he kept me. But she was offended because I missed the note. Was I sinning? I was not sinning, I wasn't singing either. But this old prophet was the same, he was offended because a young man was in his territory, and as a result of that, this young man's ministry was destroyed.

Jesus stands up in the synagogue and he preaches, and the people are offended. What was the result of their offense? The scriptures tell me in the next few verses, and Jesus could do few miracles in that place.

In the next village there was a man born blind. Jesus came and touched him and he received his sight, but the blind in his home village remained blind. There's a man with leprosy in this village over here, and Jesus came and healed him, but the lepers in his own village remained leprous.

In this village over here there was a man who had died, and Jesus raised him from the dead, but in his own village the dead were buried. Because he could do no miracles in that place because of their offense.

When you allow a monkey of offense to remain upon you, you risk losing not only your fruit, but also the supernatural work of God. Do you want to see the supernatural work of God in your church? Do you want to see prayers answered?

That's supernatural. Do you want to see your prayers answered? Do you want to see Nanaimo impacted with the gospel? One of the greatest barriers to the gospel in Nanaimo is the amount of Christians who are carrying monkeys on their shoulders.

And divisions in churches is one of the greatest barriers. Let me take you to my third example. It's found in Matthew 26. The section begins at verse 6, and my key verse is verse 8. A woman comes down in Bethany, and she has an alabaster vial, a very costly perfume.

Offense at the Anointing of Jesus

And she breaks it upon the feet of Jesus, and she washes his feet with her tears, and wipes his feet with her hair. And my Bible reads to me, and the disciples were offended. And they said, why this waste?

Why didn't she sell this perfume and bring the money in so we could give it to the poor? Now I deliberately have read it from Matthew, and I show you the reason why. But in John's gospel, the same story is recorded there.

But John records these words. And Judas was offended. And they said, why this waste? But he really wasn't interested in the poor. He wanted the money because he kept the purse, and he was a thief. That's what John says.

But I've deliberately read this one from Matthew, because in this scripture it tells me the result of their offense. So the next section reads this way. And Judas got up, and walked out, and betrayed his Lord.

The result of his offense was that he lost confidence in Jesus, and so went to betray him. Did he intend for Jesus to be put to death? I don't think so. I think like all the disciples, Judas' understanding of the kingdom that Jesus had come to establish, their understanding was an earthly kingdom.

And they were looking for Jesus to establish his kingdom, to overthrow the Roman rule. And he wanted to push a little bit, to promote a little bit, to egg on a little bit, to force Jesus into establishing his kingdom.

Peter's Offense and the Loss of His Testimony

But he did not understand, but he was offended. And he goes and loses confidence in Jesus, and so betrays him. My fourth example is found in the same chapter. Jesus says to his disciples, having come out of the upper room, having come into the garden, he said, this night you will all be offended because of me.

My version says, you will all fall away. It's the same Greek word, skandalitso. You will all be offended because of me this night. You're not going to understand what's going to happen to me. You're going to see the soldiers come and take me.

You're going to see me beaten and smitten. You're going to see me put upon a cross. You're not going to understand. You're going to all be offended because of me this night. And Peter, I love Peter. Peter is very much like many of us.

If Peter walked into this room, you'd recognize him easily. He would smell of fish. But he's also got a mouth that's shaped like a foot. He is always saying the wrong thing. Have you noticed that? And he does exactly that right now.

He said, Jesus, I won't be offended. No way. Everybody else might be offended. Everybody else might be offended. But not me. You can come to me. I won't be offended. And Jesus said, Peter, before the cockerel crows this night, you're going to deny me three times.

And Jesus is taken into Pilate's judgment hall. All the other disciples flee. Judas commits suicide. John goes right into the judgment hall. He's got, obviously, friends who will allow him to get in. Peter doesn't get into the judgment hall, but he's in the kitchen next door.

All the other disciples have fled. That's not to be too hard upon Peter. He's at least there. A little girl comes up to him and she says, you belong to Jesus, don't you? Jesus? What do you mean, Jesus?

Jesus is a fairly common name. Jesus is the man in there. Oh, I don't know him. I've never seen him before. Aaron Peter. This is your closest friend. This is the one you've been with three years. This is the one you saw on the Mount of Transfiguration.

This is the one who three hours ago you said you would never deny. Never seen him before. Then a man comes up to him and says, I saw you in the garden. You're one of Jesus' men. What's going on here, Sir Peter?

I don't know that criminal in there. I don't know him. Leave me alone. And somebody else comes up and says, You're a Galilean. You're one of Jesus' men. Your speech betrays you, just like mine is. A Welsh accent is an accent from Galilee.

And Peter begins to curse and swear and deny his Lord. In the cockerel throat. Cock-a-doodle-doo. What has happened? Peter's offended. He doesn't understand what's happening and he's offended. And because of his offense, he has lost his testimony.

See, I wonder what would have happened if the little girl had said to him, You belong to Jesus, don't you? I wonder what would have happened if he had said yes. I wonder if her next words might have been, Tell me about him.

Please tell me about him. I want to know more about him. But he denied him. And how many Christians live out a life of denying their Lord and losing their testimony? How many churches have lost their testimony and been divided because of some person's offense?

When Offense Divides a Church

I can take you to churches. I can take you to places where churches used to be. I attended a church in Wales. I won't tell you the whole story. It grew to over 400 people. I'll tell you the offense. One day the pastor was serving communion and he served the bread.

The congregation had been served the bread. The pastor glanced at his watch and said, Oh my goodness, is that the time? I didn't realize it was so late. I'll tell you what we're going to do, he said. We're going to adjourn the service right now.

I'm going to invite you to come back this evening. They always had an evening service. And we'll have the wine this evening. That's strange. It's very strange. Three men in the congregation, one former pastor, one elder, and one other man were so offended they wrote to the district superintendent who came to the church and met with the entire congregation.

Came out with a decision that it was not wrong that it happened. It was unwise. And he reprimanded the pastor gently. He said, young man, just don't do this again. Be careful. It's not wise to do. But now the pastor's offended.

So the following Sunday he left the denomination. He took all his congregation with him to a hall 100 yards up the road. Three years later that church disintegrated into multi-factions that everybody in Wales knew about at the time.

In fact, years later I went back to Britain and I was in another city in another place in England. I said I was from Bridgend, Wales. And he said to me, oh, do you belong to that church? Everybody knew of this church.

And the terrible testimony of this church happened. Because of offense. When we allow the monkey to stay on our shoulders we risk losing not only our friends, not only the supernatural work of God, not only our confidence, but we risk losing our testimony too.

Offense and Communion with Christ

My fifth and final example here is found in John chapter 11. This is a very long and very difficult chapter. Jesus says words like this. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me.

I'm sorry, John chapter 7. I said 11. John chapter 6. John chapter 6, I'm sorry. Very long chapter. Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part in me. I'm looking from verse 60. And my key verse is 61.

Many of his disciples when they heard this they said, this is difficult to understand. We don't understand this. But Jesus realized and they grumbled, said, does this cause you offense? Eat my flesh and drink my blood?

Of course, it sounds offensive. But you and I have the value of hindsight. We understand more what he said. Because there at the communion table, that is exactly what we are doing. The last night before he died, Jesus knowing he was about to die, knowing he was about to die, called his disciples together.

If I knew I was going to die next week, I tell you right now, I'd be dealing with priorities in my life. I love sport, but I wouldn't be watching sport on my TV if I knew I had three days to live. I want to make sure my daughters knew that I love them, my wife knew that I love her, that I was leaving no problems behind after my death.

I'd want to deal with priorities. And Jesus is going to deal with priorities in the upper room. And so to his disciples, he promises them some wonderful things. He promises peace the world cannot give or take away.

He promises them joy that will be shaken down, pressed together, running over. Joy that will fill them. He promises them the Holy Spirit to dwell within them. He promises them a home in heaven he is going to prepare for them.

And that he will return many wonderful promises. And I believe he means to keep those promises. Do you? When Jesus makes promises, not only to the twelve, but to us too. Those promises are for us. The next day upon a cross he signed his name to those promises in blood.

Guaranteed them with the death of the cross. But that room, that upper room, he asked three things of his disciples. As he washed their feet, he said to them, so do I want you to do to one another. I want you to live a life of refreshing one another.

That's what foot washing is. I don't think he calls us to do it physically, though that's a wonderful experience to have. But every time I come to church, I come for three reasons. I come to hear the word of God.

I come to express my love to God. And I come to have my feet washed. You see you can't spend one hour in this world without the dirt of this world washing off or rubbing off on you. You watch your TV programs, how many TV programs can you read, can you watch today without dirt upon it?

You can't work in your offices, you can't work and be in your schools without the dirt of this world rubbing off on you. And when I come into the house of God, I come here to have my feet washed. I come here to meet brothers and sisters who can greet me.

I come here to be pointed again to the cross of Jesus and to the love of Jesus, so I leave here refreshed. It's one of the things that Jesus asked us to be, as refreshers of one another. Then he said a new commandment I give you, that you love one another.

There's no options here. The king has commanded you to love one another. He didn't say love those of the same denomination, those who are Baptist, you can love them, but don't love the Pentecostals or the Catholics that know the Lord, and there are many.

I do not like the liturgy, I do not like their form of worship maybe, I do not like some of the things about them, but I'm commanded to love them and I have no option. And the third thing he asked his disciples in his upper room as a priority was this, he said, if you're my disciples, do what I tell you.

Obey my word. And the calling of a Christian today is to be a servant, to be a lover, and to be obedient to his word. That is what Jesus asked of his disciples in the upper room when he made those promises.

And having said those things, he then took the bread and he said, take this bread, it's my body. And every time I eat his flesh, drink, take the bread, I'm identifying myself with the body of Christ. I'm an alliance pastor, I'm preaching today in a Baptist church, I speak in brethren churches and Anglican churches, but I am more than all of that, I am a kingdom Christian.

I belong to the kingdom of Christ. I belong to the one church of which Jesus Christ is the head. I may not be an arm, I may not be a foot, I may not be an eye, but I am part of the body of Christ. In fact, people often ask me what part of the body I am, and I tell them I'm a big toe.

They say, what do you mean a big toe? I say, well, I'm a pastor. They say, well, what's that got to do with being a big toe? I say, well, as a pastor I'm used to working in dark, smelly places. But more than that, I'm used to being under pressure.

But I do like to be a big toe because I want my teaching to bring balance to the body of Christ. There's a lot of teaching out there that is unbalanced. And so when I take the bread, I'm identifying myself with the body.

When I eat the flesh, when I drink the blood, I'm saying yes to the covenant that Jesus has made with us. I'm signing my name to the covenant. I'm agreeing to love his people, to serve his people, and to obey the word.

And I verbally say that every time I take communion. And here in John chapter 6, what Jesus is saying to the people is this, unless you are in covenant with me and with one another, eating my flesh, drinking my blood, the call of the communion, covenant, you have no part in me.

Does this offend you brothers and sisters of this Baptist church that I tell you you're commanded to love your Pentecostal brothers? Oh, there are many Christians who are offended by that. That is what Jesus is saying.

Does this offend you, this call to covenant? And many of them were offended, and the result is there, it said, and from that day many of them walked with him no more. The result of having a monkey upon your shoulder, my brothers and sisters, can be that you risk losing your fruit, you risk losing your confidence, you risk losing your communion, you risk losing your testimony, and you risk losing the supernatural work of God.

And I tell you, the price is too... You cannot afford that monkey on your shoulder. This church cannot afford that monkey on your shoulder. This city cannot afford the numbers of Christians in churches with monkeys on their shoulders.

The monkeys will come, but you cannot afford to leave them there because you risk losing far too much. Why then doesn't Jesus put the monkeys to death? Wouldn't it be so much easier if Jesus guaranteed that no monkey would ever jump on your shoulder?

Why does he allow these monkeys to come when he risks all these things, as your response? Why does he allow the lion to roar when the lion has already been defeated and disarmed upon the cross? Why does Jesus allow these things to happen?